Song Video
Lyrics
Day-o, Day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Work all night on a drink a' rum
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Stack banana till the mornin' come
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
It's six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day. .
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
A beautiful bunch a' ripe banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Hide the deadly black tarantula
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
It's six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day. .
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home.
Information About The Banana Boat Song (Day-o)
The origins of "The Banana Boat Song" are not known completely and it's the same for its author but we know for sure that this is a Jamaican folk song. The most interesting thing about this folk song is that it was originally sung by the banana field workers of Jamaica.
The melody was very much a calypso style of singing but different locals improvised their own lyrics from time to time often their most common reference "daylight come and we wan" go home". This song was also frequently sung by dock workers who worked during the dark shift loading bananas onto ships.
The first recorded version was took place in 1952 when Trinidadian singer Edric Conner who along with his band "The Caribbean's" recorded this song onto his album "Songs From Jamaica "and named the song "Day De Light". Song lyrics were written by Ivrine Burgie from the island of Barbados.
Daylight has come, the shift is over and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home (this is the meaning of the lyric "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana/ Daylight come and we wanna go home").
The song is perhaps best known for being used in the comedy film Beetle Juice. In the dinner scene, the guests become possessed and sing and dance to the song.
For further information about the song "The Banana Boat Song", check out Wikipedia.
Alternative Lyrics & Related Songs
This version changes 'Daylight come...' to 'Day is breaking'
Come mister tally man tally me bananas
Day is breaking I wanna go home
Come here for work, i didn't come here for to idle
Day is Breaking i wanna go home
Three han' Four han' Five han bunch!
Six han seven han eight han bunch!
Day is breaking i wanna go home.
So check them and check them but with caution!
Day is breaking I wanna go home
My back is breaking with bare exhaustion
Day is breaking i wanna go home.
I wanna go home.